I’m stuck between these two schools! For context, I’m double majoring in economics and political science. (I also plan to go to grad/law school in the future if this affects anything.)
The thing is, I love WashU. The campus is awesome and the people are great. But name-recognition for WashU isn’t fantastic and I feel like Gtown has more prestige/is more accredited for what I want to major in. I don’t know what do — any advice y’all can offer would be amazing! Thank you!
Assuming costs aren’t a consideration:
If you will go to grad/law school and you love WashU, go to WashU. Your average grandma may know Georgetown better or think it’s more prestigious, but grad/law adcoms are clued in.
If you will try to find a job out of undergrad, Georgetown being in DC may be more advantageous for your field of interest.
Georgetown, hands down. Georgetown is THE place for political science, and has a top economics program as well. From its connections and alumni, to the fact that it is in DC. We’re not only talking about prestige but about opportunities for things like internships and job connections.
Georgetown is consistently in the top 10 colleges for poli sci, while WashU is not in the running.
For business they are more or less equivalent, but Georgetown is closer to the banking centers of the East, and while WashU is the same distance from Chicago, New York is still more of a major financial hub than Chicago.
If it was just Business, it would be more of a toss-up, though I would give a tip to G’Town. But for political science, it isn’t even close.
I totally agree with this. Georgetown and WashU are equally well known to anyone that matters with regards to law school. Follow your instinct.
How much does this matter for law/grad school?
If someone is looking to work straight out of undergrad, I agree, that matters.
I don’t know if I’d say that Wash U is “not in the running.” It should be noted that Wash U is ranked higher than Georgetown in virtually all subject rankings of political science programs (e.g. NRC and USNWR)
NRC
Wash U – #6-18 (S-ranking), #17-36 (R-ranking)
Georgetown – #62-77 (S-ranking), #23-44 (R-ranking)
USNWR
Wash U – #12
Georgetown – #34
International relations is where Georgetown shines.
Those are the graduate school ratings, and the OP is an undergraduate. So they are not really all that relevant.
I thought they might be an interesting counterpoint to off-the-cuff opinions, particularly since OP seems more interested in pursuing grad school than a career in government right after graduation. YMMV!
Is COA a factor under consideration ?
What do you want to do after graduation from college ?
COA would be about the same at both schools for me! & the plan is to go to law school at a T14
I think you’re in the lucky position of getting to go with your gut here! Both are great schools and you’ll be in a strong position to apply for summer internships and law school from either. I had a great experience at WashU and knew plenty of people who interned in DC for the summer or went on to T14 law schools. Congrats and good luck!
Two great schools. The Humanities/poli sci academic experience at WashU will be a much more boutique experience (less but smaller classes with less competition for prof attention) within a prevalent STEM and business backdrop; we were recently told only 25 pct of WashU CAS students major in the humanities, and that seems right from published stats. I have not checked Georgetown College’s stats but I assume it’s a much much higher pctg, especially if you add Walsh to the numerator and denominator. Both fantastic places.
Georgetown would have an absolute ton of students going down the path you’re aiming for (pre-law majoring in some combo of econ/poli sci/IR). As this isn’t a startup route where there are synergies, I don’t actually see that as a good thing.
Wash U undergrad and Georgetown for Law School
Agree with all of the above posters that both are outstanding universities. Congratulations on being offered admission to these superb schools !
Law school is a common path for students from both WashUStL & from Georgetown.
A career in finance/Wall Street is more common from Georgetown–if that type of work is of interest to you.
I think that Georgetown & WashUStL offer different undergraduate experiences. WashUStL offers a bit more of a traditional college experience albeit without big time sports, while Georgetown is more of a preprofessional environment in the most formal large city in the US.
Lots of government related internship / externship opportunities in Wash DC.
Georgetown is Jesuit while WashUStL is unaffiliated but home to a significant, thriving Jewish community (friends mention reform), but both are home to students of various religions or no religion.
Both have outstanding law schools ranked among the top 20 (out of about 200) law schools. Both law schools award lots of merit scholarship money.
Consider attending one for undergraduate years & the other for law school.
No wrong choice. Plus, either way you will get to use the word Washington frequently.
If it is a tie, go with Georgetown. That way you don’t have to spend the rest of your life saying that went to Washington University not the University of Washington.
An old Wash U alumn (political science primary major, business second major and economic minor) and T14 admit here as merely an “above average” student with very strong LSATs.
First off, “prestige” won’t matter when you’re comparing two schools of this caliber when it comes to law school admissions. What will matter is the work you do when you go to either of these schools. Admissions officers, law firms and people hiring at large corporations, ie those who matter, know both schools well. 25 years ago a partner named best in finance in his MBA class (also a JD) at Northwestern looked at my CV and said, “I never could have gotten in there for undergrad”. That was when WashU’s name was much less known than it is today. I would not worry about name recognition for either.
Secondly, I’m not sure that Georgetown is more prestigious. Someone else brought up the grad school peer assessment rankings. If this was a large public program, those may not translate well to the undergrad program and the professors and research driving those rankings may have little to do with undergrad Ed. At WashU (and presumably Georgetown) those professors are actively teaching/mentoring undergrads. I would not say that WashU has any sort of advantage due to rankings, because again, when you get to schools/programs of this level, it frankly no longer matters.
Georgetown will offer greater breadth with respect to political science, economics, public policy, international affairs and government. That’s their jam. WashU only mints about 160 bachelors degrees a year total in those fields. Georgetown: 4 times as many. At the same time, you can only take so many of those courses in a 120 credit hour undergrad career. You’ll need distribution requirements and the opportunity to try things. Those create a more well rounded grad regardless. There’s no shortage of quality courses to build an academic resume at either school.
One thing in WashU’s favor: if you’re interested in examining law with a political science lens, WashU may be as good as any school in the country to do that. Lee Epstein is my favorite professor of all time and a great human being. She’s also probably the foremost expert in the world on judicial behavior and the politics of the judicial nominee process. She would probably also cringe if people said that last sentence. But it’s true. Her in class lectures (as opposed to her presentations around the world) are a nice balance between Con Law + historical context/psychology, lecture segments with Socratic bursts. She’s wonderful.
Andrew Martin was a protege of hers getting his PhD when I was an undergrad. Excellent in his own right. He was Martin in the Martin-Quinn scores (Google it) and an excellent empirical legal study scholar. He’s now Chancellor. Legal studies within the political science department is one of the university’s pride and joys. That’s not changing with him in charge of the entire university. He still teaches as well. Those two + James Gibson, Matt Gabel and James Spriggs are probably 5 of the 15-20 or so most cited political scientists in the US who fall under the broad category of “judicial politics”. Look them up in Google scholar. WashU is probably as strong as any school in the country in that niche. I think Penn may be up there as well. Google scholar still has Epstein at USC Law. She’s been back at WashU a number of years. There are some interesting cross disciplinary courses that weren’t there when I was in school and also some interesting strands (South Asian politics and social movements for example)
I don’t know the Econ side as well. They did have some interesting profs who focused on regulatory/institutional economics (led by Doug North). I enjoyed Andy Sobel’s classes on international regulatory frameworks that fell more under the “political economy” label. He’s still there.
A lot of words to say that it is a very good mix of professors passionate about teaching. Very good all around and completely exceptional in some areas like judicial politics/behavior. Professors got to know people well and the environment was extremely collaborative.
I really wouldn’t sweat perceptions of programs/universities from the general public. The people you’re trying to impress for admissions and jobs already know both well. I’d pick the school you think you will have the most personal happiness, because that translates to academic performance and general well being far more than hairsplitting advantages/disadvantages re: curriculum and rep.
One more thing to add here that is more anecdotal. 5 of the 48 people on my freshman floor were in something resembling a pre-law track. Counting where I was admitted but ultimately did not attend: Columbia, Penn, UCLA, WashU and Tulane were the admits. The WashU law school matriculant was Columbia/Penn level, but he had developed really strong relationships in the law and political science departments and did not want to leave. The Tulane matriculant got some strong need/merit $$$ there he didn’t get at other schools. My floor was likely not representative, but my general impression is that if you’re an above average student in these departments with qualifying LSATs who has spent time investing in relationships, the odds of a T14 admit are very much in your favor.
I think that on overall academic strength, WashU and Georgetown are peers.
That said, you have chosen Poli Sci and Econ, two of Georgetown’s strongest areas.
But WashU is also strong here – it just isn’t in DC.
I’d say that, assuming cost to attend them is close:
All that said, both will be great for law school prep, should you decide to follow that path.
That’s a great way to sum it up.
If you feel strongly on a personal level in terms of general fit/happiness, I’d go with that school.
If you’re fairly neutral on personal preference, breadth of curriculum in politics/economics/public policy/international affairs suggests Georgetown…
unless a smaller experience of empirical legal study/judicial politics+behavior is extremely intriguing as someone on a pre-law track. In which case, I’d go WashU.